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Monday, November 14, 2011

Hell South - Preview 2

"Hell South" sounds weird. Anywho ...

4.68 Kobolds in Distress: A band of 15 kobolds have been trapped on a ledge about 30 feet above the ground. They are armed with javelins and clubs, and especially worried about the cave located about 10 feet above their ledge, where a lone howler dwells. Below the ledge there are four chaos beasts that escaped the Master.

5.69 Goons: A tribe of 370 goons and their 60 females and 40 children dwell here in an ornate, garish palace of stone set with ornamental stones. The carvings depict cavorting demons, hunting beasts and scenes of terrible melancholy. The palace contains barracks and living chambers, fungal gardens, cruel prisons and kennels for the goons’ 30 champion hunting dogs. The palace is laid out in rings separated by fungal gardens crawling with shriekers who double as guard animals.

The goons are ruled by Vodic, a brutal priest of Cali, the demon queen of assassins. Vodic dwells at the center of the palace in a shrine of Cali. The ring just beyond the shrine is inhabited by 30 louts. The shrine contains a bronze idol of Cali and three iron chests hanging from thick, iron chains attached to the ceiling. The idol holds aloft in one hand a compass carved from a single large sapphire (worth 4,000 gp). The compass has a permanent find the path effect cast on it, activated by holding upright on one’s palm and blowing on it.

6.102 Dusty Halls: There is a small castle here, abandoned ages ago while under siege by the wizard Porin Bloody Bones. Porin devised a wondrous spell that sealed the castle – a powerful variation on the venerable hold portal enchantment. In time, the garrison succumbed to hunger and cannibalism and eventually wiped themselves out. Unfortunately, the wizard didn’t last long enough to enjoy his victory, having succumbed to the venom of a serpent that crawled into his tent one night. The castle has been sealed ever since, and is now inhabited by twenty ravenous zombies. Within these dusty hallways one might discover the great hall with its magnificent opal-studded throne (ten opals worth 250 gp each).

The castle’s treasure is hidden in a room within a room. The walls of the outer room are studded with spikes. When the inner door is tampered with, it opens with a powerful gust of wind. Anyone in front of the door must pass a saving throw or be flung back on the spikes for 1d6 points of damage. If the damage rolled is “6”, the spiked walls of the circular chamber begin to spin, first at a rate of 10 feet per round. The speed increases by 10 feet per round until it reaches a maximum speed of 90 feet per round. Once the speed reaches 30 feet per round, anyone still on the spikes begins to suffer 1d6 points of damage per round.

Within the treasure chamber there are 5,650 sp, 2,310 ep, 1,060 gp, a tiny pair of gold dice (30 gp), a small book of dirty kobold limericks with a gray-brown cover (by reading the first word of each page you discover a wish spell that works one time) and a +1 broadsword.